Posted by The power of a nuclear bomb is something that has been feared since their creation. No rational mind could desire a nuclear war. Some believe that North Korea’s nuclear program is a major threat to the west; but is nuclear war really a possibility or is North Korea just another nuclear capable country?
Tensions between the US and North Korea can be traced back to the Korean War when the US helped South Korea fight the communist forces. The fighting ended in 1953 with a truce; but a formal peace treaty has never been signed. In more recent times this tension has increased considerably after it was discovered that North Korea was developing a nuclear program that would enable it to produce nuclear weapons. Media reports indicate that they have reached the final phase in reprocessing spent fuel rods. When uranium is enriched to a high degree it becomes weapons-grade material. This resulted in international outrage and sanctions against North Korea. In May, 2009 North Korea announced that it had successfully conducted a second nuclear test in three years. The situation was taking a turn for the worse.
To add fuel to this already raging fire, North Korea has been conducting tests on their missile systems. In fact they have been testing long and medium-range missiles since 2006. Then in February 2009 North Korea made the announcement that they intended to launch a communications satellite into space. Due to their activity with nuclear weapons the US and South Korea did not believe the explanation given by North Korean that they were developing a space program. Months later in July, after they had conducted a nuclear test; North Korea successfully launched seven short-range missiles towards the Sea of Japan. This succeeded in again escalating the situation. All of this took place in the face of the UN’s ultimatum that North Korea stop work on the development of nuclear weapons.
The situation shows signs of improving at the moment. During September of 2009 US president Obama announced that he was willing to engage in direct talks with North Korea. Obama hopes to persuade North Korea to return to the six-nation party talks that they previously walked out of in protest. These negotiations were started to bring the disagreement to a peaceful conclusion.
Hopefully calmer minds prevail at these discussions so that a rational conclusion can be reached. The alternative to a peaceful settlement in this case is one that can only lead to massive losses on all sides.
